All Forum Posts by: Todd Ortscheid

The best tip is to not make the mistake of getting involved in section 8. Especially in the Atlanta Housing Authority territory. Nothing but a nightmare.

We don't charge a full 6% to our property management clients, but we certainly charge a commission. Standard for our property management clients is 5%. I certainly wouldn't trust any property manager who didn't charge a decent commission for a sale. They clearly have no respect for the service they provide, and that usually means that they have little experience and are desperate for business. That's not who you want managing or selling your property.

@Jon A. , we manage a number of properties in Forest Park. There are certainly nicer neighborhoods, but it's not a bad rental market at all. While our average time on market is around 2 weeks, Forest Park can trend a little longer, but we generally list properties about 30 days prior to vacancy, and we rarely have a problem placing a tenant before it's vacant, even in Forest Park. We syndicate our listings to just about every rental listings web site imaginable, so it's not hard to find tenants in this market, even in some C neighborhoods.

Try looking on the south side of Atlanta. Lots of stuff available at that price point in Clayton, Spalding, Coweta counties.

Honestly, finding 1% properties in the Atlanta area is a piece of cake. It's only difficult if you insist on staying in the close-in suburbs or the north side of town. If you move out away from the city and look in places like Spalding, Henry, and Clayton counties, you can find quality properties that are 1.5% or better. I've picked up several myself that exceed 2%. Are these A-Class properties? No, but they're B-Class or C+, and the market is so strong that you can easily place quality tenants in them and cashflow like crazy.

I would say that a company that specializes in a specific area is completely unnecessary. Companies like ours that cover the entire metro area have individual agents who specialize in specific territories, so you're still getting that same specialization. You're just getting a bigger, more experienced company to go along with it.

Looks like you've already got some great insurance recommendations, but if you need a property manager, let me know. We manage about 400 properties throughout the Atlanta metro area.

Beverly, we'd be happy to help. We cover the entire Atlanta metro area.

If you're a new landlord and don't have a great landlord/tenant attorney and lease form already on hand, your best choice would be to hire a property manager.